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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME |
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National and International Print Media Coverage2007 Coverage: 1/07 to 4/07
The Journal of Health Psychology’s April 30 issue includes an article entitled “The Prevalence of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Nigeria.” Researchers from DePaul University (including Dr. Leonard Jason) and Roosevelt University found that “adult rates of CFS in Nigeria that were somewhat higher than rates from community-based CFS epidemiologic studies in the USA” and speculate that “the presence of several fatiguing illnesses such as malaria and typhoid, the lack of adequate healthcare resources and poverty in Nigeria, place individuals at greater risk for fatigue and its syndromes.” (4/30/07)
http://hpq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/12/3/461 The May issue of the American College of Physicians’ Observer includes an extensive article about CFS. Writer Jessica Berthold notes that, “Respected researchers say it’s a condition that can be as disabling as AIDS or multiple sclerosis. Its prevalence is greater than that of ovarian cancer, lung cancer or lupus. And yet, nearly 20 years after chronic fatigue syndrome was officially recognized as a legitimate medical condition, many internists still doubt whether it truly exists.” She interviews experts including Lucinda Bateman, MD (and Association board member); Suzanne Vernon, PhD, team leader of the CDC’s molecular epidemiology program; Nancy Klimas, MD, a professor of medicine and director of the CFS Research Center at the University of Miami; and Anthony L. Komaroff, FACP, a Harvard Medical School professor of medicine. Berthold discusses the public awareness campaign, the difficulty of diagnosis and treatments. (4/24/07)
http://www.acponline.org/journals/news/may07/fatigue.htm In “I got to the root cause of my ME,” writer Jane Picken describes CFS/ME patient Lyn White’s story: from how she first became ill to her recovery using reverse therapy, a “treatment [that] works by getting to the heart of the problem or the emotional and psychological reasons behind the symptoms of illnesses … It’s an educational process which teaches people to get rid of symptoms by understanding and acting on the message of the symptom.” White became such a believer in reverse therapy that she trained to practice the discipline to help other patients. (The Evening Chronicle) (Great Britian) (4/23/07)
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/lifestyle/health/tm_headline=i-got-to-the-root-cause-of-my-me&method=full&objectid=18950383&siteid=50081-name_page.html The Belfast Telegraph’s Dr. Sarah advises a patient suffering from post-viral fatigue to take an oral B complex supplement to combat the illness. (Ireland) (04/22/07)
http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/features/article2472421.ece CFS patient Lesley-Ann Hopkins recently won gold medals in European track and field competitions following a five-year battle with the illness that left her too exhausted to walk. (“Golden girl Lesley wins medals in Finland”) (Hemlehempstead Today) (Great Britian) (4/18/07)
http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news?articleid=2711452 In “Victims give clues to the answers,” The Sydney Morning Herald writer Julie Robotham describes neurologist Abhijit Chaudhuri’s discovery of evidence of inflammation and cell death in the brain and spinal fluid of CFS patient Sophia Mirza during her autopsy. It “marked the first time a serious abnormality confined to the central nervous system had been identified at the post-mortem examination of a patient whose principal diagnosis was chronic fatigue syndrome.” Robotham says researchers and specialists from all over the world are developing an autopsy protocol that would allow samples to be consistently collected and analysed from the bodies of people who die after a long battle with CFS to form an international tissue bank. (Australia) (4/12/07)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/victims-give-clues-to-the-answers/2007/04/11/1175971183260.html
In "A Bright Future Ahead," Scottish ME patient Marie Murray tells her story of battling the illness through international travels, watching her daughter be stricken with it, and her success with Mickel therapy, which is based on the theory that symptoms of conditions like CFS and ME are created by a dysfunctional hypothalamus gland in the brain. Treatment involves one to one consultations as a body and mind healing process. (Daily Record) (Scotland) (4/10/07)
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=a-bright-future-ahead&method=full&objectid=18882586&siteid=66633-name_page.html Writer Coreena Ford profiles CFS patient and author Holly Harvey on publication of her first novel, Karma, about “Paige, a 28-year-old ME sufferer whose life revolves around sleep, caffeine and VH-1 while friends are busy partying.” Harvey, ill with CFS since the age of 11, wrote the book in rare moments of feeling well enough to do so. ("Write on for good Karma") (4/01/07)
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaysun/news/tm_headline=write-on-for-good-karma&method=full&objectid=18842092&siteid=50081-name_page.html In the April issue of Psychiatric Times, John Medina, Ph.D. comments on 15 articles printed in Pharmacogenomics and Nature that summarize the results of the CDC’s community-based study performed in Wichita, Kansas and the “C3” (CFS Computational Challenge) analysis of the data. He concludes that “CFS is a big problem, one not easily solved … Happily, the results and the reactions to them have not discouraged the CDC from continuing to address the issues or even from moving forward with new projects …” ("Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A lesson in Big Science") (4/01/07)
The March 26 issue of For Women First includes "Tired, achy and out of sorts?" an article that chronicles the journey of CFS patient Maria Connor of New Albany, Ohio, from her struggle with the illness’ onset through the difficulty of an accurate diagnosis through learning how to manage her symptoms with diet, massage therapy and supplements. The article includes a quote from Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Anthony Komaroff, a “one-minute quiz” to help readers determine if they may have CFS and a sidebar about “energy nutrient” CoQ10. (3/26/07)
Michael C. LaFerney, APRN, BC, includes CFS in his article “Diagnosing Depression” in Advance for Nurses. (3/26/07) The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry publishes the results of a study testing the hypothesis that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) results in a reduction of self-reported cognitive impairment and an improved neuropsychological test performance in patients with CFS. Using data from two previous trials, researchers conclude that CBT leads to a reduction in self-reported cognitive impairment, but not to improved neuropsychological test performance. The findings of this study support the idea that the distorted perception of cognitive processes is more central to CFS than actual cognitive performance. (3/21/07)
http://jnnp.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/78/4/434 The March issue of Working Mother magazine includes a short spotlight on CFS in its “Healthy Mom” pages. It refers to the awareness campaign and the CDC’s efforts to educate health care professionals in accurately diagnosing the illness. (March 2007) Online content available to subscribers only.
In a letter to the editor of OB.GYN News, Dr. Howard Homler urges caution in diagnosing CFS, saying it “ … is best seen as a starting point rather than a diagnosis,” and “…is too easily used as a diagnostic label, without further evaluation.” (3/20/07) Link not available.
A research article published in BMC Neurology explores “A chronic fatigue syndrome – related proteome in human cerebrospinal fluid.” Researchers assessed cerebrospinal fluid to find proteins that were differentially expressed in patients with CFS, FM and Persian Gulf War Illness (PGI) compared to control subjects. The pilot study detected an identical set of central nervous system, innate immune and amyloidogenic proteins in cerebrospinal fluids from two independent cohorts of subjects with overlapping CFS, PGI and fibromyalgia. Although syndrome names and definitions were different, the proteome and presumed pathological mechanism(s) may be shared. (3/17/07)
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/5/22 An article in The Mangalorean suggests a direct link between stress and why women are four times more likely than men to get the illness. "Woman under pressure 24X7" describes CFS and its symptoms and profiles a New Delhi resident suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease. (India) (3/12/07)
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=40330 In “Making Up For Lost Time,” British CFS patient Elsa Champney describes her struggle to be diagnosed and cope with the illness that struck her in her mid-50s. Through a significant change in diet, she was able to resume part-time work and a return to a normal life. (The News and Star) (England) (3/05/07)
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=473022 An article in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, publishes the results of “Incidence, Prognosis, and Risk Factors for Fatigue and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Adolescents: A Prospective Community Study.” The British study included a random population sample of 11- to 15-year-olds. It concluded that the incidence rates for chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in this adolescent sample were relatively high, but the prognosis for these conditions was good. It provides evidence for an association between emotional/behavioral problems and subsequent onset of fatigue/chronic fatigue. (Vol. 119 No. 3 March 2007, pp. E603)
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/119/3/E603 Australian CFS patient Gordon Lingard found success in treating the disease with “reverse therapy,” which is a healing technique based on the theory that chronic fatigue is a glandular disorder. In an article in The Geelong Advertiser, he says that reverse therapy “worked on the principle that a gland called the hypothalamus had gone into overdrive in the sufferer’s body, overworking the pituitary and adrenal glands which in turn overworked the body’s main functions, causing classic chronic fatigue symptoms such as swollen glands, sore throat, muscle pain, weakness and fatigue. He said reverse therapy worked by teaching people to listen to their bodies and learn from their symptoms rather than ignoring the signals their body sent them.” (“Helping chronic fatigue sufferers”) (Australia) (2/27/07)
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2007/02/27/1690_news.html In The Sunderland Echo, writer Julie Wilson profiles Sunderland Royal Hospital’s Dr, Terry Daymond, a prominent rheumatologist who treated thousands of CFS patients prior to his retirement last week. (“News focus: Man in a million”) (Great Britian) (2/26/07)
http://www.sunderlandtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2077874&SectionID=1512 In an article in The Star, Dr Amir Farid Isahak describes the use of “psycho-neuro-energetics (PNE) – the science of the inter-relationships of the mind, the nervous system and the energies in your body; how the workings of your mind affect the energy balance and health of your organs; and conversely how your energy status reflects on your state-of-mind, emotions, behavior, character and health” in the treatment of both FM and CFS. (“Balancing energy and the mind”) (Malaysia) (2/25/07)
http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2007/2/25/health/16962792&sec=health In an abstract published in the winter edition of Psychoparmacol Bulletin, researchers J.L. Young and J.C. Redmond of the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine in Michigan report that “Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may share common features with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In an outpatient psychiatric clinic, a number of adult patients who presented primarily with symptoms of ADHD, predominately inattentive type, also reported unexplained fatigue, widespread musculoskeletal pain or a pre-existing diagnosis of CFS or FMS.” (2/24/07)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17285103&query_hl=15&itool=pubmed_DocSum In “Sleep vital for a healthy life,” Jan de Vries includes CFS in his discussion of the importance of sleep. (The Belfast Telegraph) (Ireland) (2/13/07)
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/health-and-beauty/article2261860.ece In “Chronic fatigue syndrome and how to deal with it” in the February 9 issue of Spanish weekly newspaper SUR in English, doctors and patients in India described the symptoms and possible causes of CFS, of which “there has been a dramatic upward spiral in the number of CFS cases in India over the last decade.” (Spain) (2/9/2007)
http://www.surinenglish.com/noticias.php?Noticia=10035 Writer Toni Clarke described the experiences of Michael Manson, co-founder of PetSmart Inc, and his business partner Jim Dougherty, with CFS. The two men are part of Stanford University’s Dr. Jose Montoya’s Valcyte study. (“New hope for sufferers of chronic fatigue,” The Independent, Cape Town, South Africa, 2/03/07).
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=117&art_id=vn20070203093535319C455442 An article in the February issue of Fitness magazine, “Getting healthy: what works, what doesn’t,” offers tips to avoid dangerous misdiagnoses of chronic conditions. A sidebar, “The diseases doctors misdiagnose in women,” lists CFS at the top and gives the Association’s web address. “Diseases Doctors Miss” is the title of an article in the February issue of Woman’s Day magazine that includes CFS as one of those conditions. Guidance on diagnosis and treatment is provided by Dr. Lucinda Bateman and readers are referred to the CFIDS Association of America for more information. (Feb. 2007) (online content restricted to subscribers only)
The February issue of Consumer Reports On Health magazine includes a brief update on CFS research on cognitive deficits and underlying brain function. It also mentions the CDC awareness campaign and directs readers to the CDC’s CFS web site for more information. (Feb. 2007) (web link not available) The Times-Colonist newspaper in Canada reports on the recently released statistics about CFS, FM and multiple chemical sensitivities that, in combination, affect 5% of Canadians. (1/29/07) “Drained by the Brain” is the title of a story in Jan. 28’s edition of The Australian about CFS. Patient Lyn Wilson of Queensland is profiled and writer Clara Pirani reports on research studies in Australia and around the world that are pointing to various problems in the brain. The article also mentions the prevalence of CFS in Australia and the CDC’s awareness campaign in the states. (1/28/07)
The Scottish newspaper, The Herald, ran an article about Dr. Paula Robson-Ansley’s study of CFS patients and endurance athletes being conducted at the University of Portsmouth in England that focuses on the relationship between the neurotransmitter interleukin-6 (IL-6) and fatigue. According to science reporter James Morgan, IL-6 is “a messenger molecule…released when the body is under stress; for example, during infection or illness or when blood sugar levels get low by sending a ‘distress signal’ to the brain.” The article suggests that drugs that block IL-6 release may present treatment options for CFS and fatigue. (1/25/07) http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/features/display.var.1145256.0.0.php Peta Bee writes in The Times, a major U.K. newspaper, “Fatigue syndrome is not all in the mind.” The article reviews the history of CFS/M.E./PVFS and chronicles research and governmental actions – in the U.K. and U.S. – to validate its serious nature. Several experts were interviewed for the article and the CDC-sponsored awareness campaign is mentioned. (1/22/07) PARADE Magazine, circulated to 79 million readers by 340 Sunday newspapers nationwide, featured an article by Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld in the January 21, 2007 edition titled, “When ‘feeling tired’ signals something more.” The basic overview of CFS attempts to distinguish CFS from everyday fatigue and other fatiguing conditions. Its content is intended for a general audience and doesn’t set out to describe recent research or explore more meaty matters. The CFIDS Association’s web site, as well as CDC’s, is included with the web version to direct interested readers to more substantive information. (1/21/07) Toronto’s Globe and Mail includes CFS in an article about medical conditions that confuse healthcare professionals, along with MCS, Morgellons and vulvodynia. Prompted by recent reports that CFS and other conditions characterized by “medically unexplained physical symptoms” affect more than a million Canadians, writer Zoe Cormier explores the difficulty patients with these conditions experience in getting appropriate diagnosis and care. (1/20/07) OB/GYN News, a publication of Elsevier, Inc., informed the nation’s obstetricians and gynecologists about CFS and the awareness campaign with an article in its January 2, 2007 edition. The article provides readers with campaign messages about diagnosis and treatment, and emphasizes through quotations from Dr. Julie Gerderding, Dr. Nancy Klimas and other experts that clinicians can help patients through symptom management they may already be familiar with. It refers readers to the CDC’s web site and the CFIDS Association, mentioning the many years of partnership on activities to educate health care professionals about CFS. (1/2/07) (Available by subscription only.) 2006 Coverage The Dec. 27 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association covered CFS, the campaign and two stories on links with early life stress that were published in November. The article, “CFS Answers Sought,” quotes Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director, and Dr. Anthony Komaroff of Harvard Medical School. It concludes with this reference to the campaign: “To help in the effective management of CFS, the CDC has joined with the Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Association of America to launch a new public awareness campaign, advocating for effective management of CFS through partnerships between patients and physicians.” It provides the URL for the provider toolkit available on the CDC’s web site. (12/27/06) Excerpt available at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/296/24/2915; full article by subscription only. Internal Medicine News carried a story about CFS and the campaign in its Dec. 15 issue titled, “CDC campaign targets Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.” Christine Kilgore opens her article, “CFS has gained new stature as a public health concern with the launch by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a national education campaign aimed at promoting diagnosis and treatment of the illness.” Internal Medicine News reaches nearly 119,000 internists and physicians; it is a publication of the International Medical News Group. (12/1/06) The American Medical Association reported on the Nov. 3 press conference in its Nov. 27 edition of American Medical News, "the newspaper for America's physicians." Writer Susan Landers' headline, "Campaign puts a spotlight on chronic fatigue syndrome," calls attention to the CDC's efforts to raise "the profile of chronic fatigue syndrome, a puzzling condition that often evades medicine's traditional diagnose-and-treat radar." She quotes CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding as saying, "Now the message is that this is a real illness that needs real medical care." (11/27/06 issue) Monday magazine, a free newspaper distributed across Victoria, British Columbia, published an article about Steven Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, mentioning his battle with CFS 15 years ago. Lewis says, "I will admit it was the worst period of my life. When it had me in its grip it was pretty awful. It was almost impossible to imagine for someone like me." According to the article, he has now recovered. (11/15/06) “The mal que destruye la vida laboral” ran on the front page of the El Nuevo Herald on Nov. 14. The article, written by Alejandra Chapparo, features an interview with CFS patient Marly Silverman, founder of PANDORA, a patient advocacy organization. According to Marly, its headline translates as “The illness that destroys the ability to work.” El Nuevo Herald is the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the country. (11/14/06) You can view the article (in Spanish) at http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/16005088.htm U.S. News & World Report included a short article about CFS on page 64 of its Nov. 13 issue, also posted to its web site on Nov. 3. “Chronic fatigue syndrome: CDC says it’s a big problem,” by Sarah Baldauf reports on the awareness campaign as well as NIH’s 7 new research awards. Read it online at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/061103/3chronic.fatigue.web.htm (11/13/06)
The Nov. 11 issue of Science News, the weekly newsmagazine of science, reported on two studies of CFS published in the November Archives of General Psychiatry. Writer Bruce Bower titled his piece, “Sick and Tired: Tracking paths to chronic fatigue.” It is available online only to subscribers at www.sciencenews.org. (11/11/06) Toronto’s Globe & Mail ran a story on page A17 on Nov. 10 under the headline, “CDC’s diagnosis: Yuppie flu’s for real.” Writer Paul Taylor looks at the Canadian government’s response to the condition as well. (11/10/06) Leeds Today/Evening Post (United Kingdom) featured the story of M.E./CFS patient Matthew Jesmontowicz-Hill in its Nov. 8 edition. The article concludes with a list of facts about CFS. (11/8/06) The Wall Street Journal ran a brief article on page A10 of its Nov. 6, 2006 edition, “Fatigue Illness Focus Widens.” The article quotes CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding and mentions Ampligen, a drug that has been in experimental trials for more than a decade. Subscribers will find a longer version of the article online at On Sunday, Nov. 5, 2006, the New York Times’ Arts & Leisure section featured an article about acclaimed concert pianist Hélène Grimaud. Although “Harmonizes With Wolves” focuses on her work with the Wolf Conservation Center, it also reveals her struggle with CFS. Australian newspaper The Border Mail included an article titled “Chronic fatigue myth debunked” in its Nov. 4 edition. The article focuses on the study of post-infectious CFS conducted in Dubbo, Australia and includes quotes from researcher Andrew Lloyd of University of New South Wales. 11/4/06 http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/bm/national/507591.html Research!America included news of the CFS campaign in its November newsletter, the Research Advocate, sent to member research and health organizations nationwide. Legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett played to a full house at Carnegie Music Hall in September 2005, marking his return to the stage after being largely homebound due to CFS. The New York Times covered Jarrett’s story in its Sept. 24, 2006 edition. Subscribers can access the article at (9/24/06) The much-anticipated article about chronic fatigue syndrome hit newsstands in the September issue of O, the Oprah magazine. This magazine has a total audience of 16,290,000. Investigative reporter Mary Fischer interviewed Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit; Michelle Akers, world-champion soccer star; Kim McCleary, president and CEO of the CFIDS Association; Anthony Komaroff, MD, of Harvard Medical School; and Suzanne Vernon, PhD, of the CDC for this article. (9/2006) For the July/August issue of Ms. magazine, well-known CFS expert Nancy Klimas, MD, discusses new research showing how the disease may be connected to abnormalities in the immune system, brain and endocrine regulation and outlining the dire need for more research funding and better informed health care professionals. (8/2006) The August issue of Harvard Health Letter features a Q&A on CFS. Dr. Anthony Komaroff answers a question about what help there is on the horizon for CFS patients. This publication goes to 180,000 subscribers. (8/2006) |
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